STOP your kids playing these video games now

Like movies and music, video games are released with specific age ratings that must be followed by parents.

There are many games that children of all ages can enjoy with the right guidance and a healthy level of time management.

But losing track of what’s downloaded onto a console, PC, or tablet can feel like a full-time job, and it’s good to have regular updates on what’s not to be played by kids.

The most important place to start is with the video games with an age rating of 18+, which puts them out of reach for anyone who is not an adult.

This task has become a bit more difficult now that many people are buying games from digital stores, making it easier to skip age limits and ID protections.

The good news is that most appliances have some sort of filter system or child lock, which makes it easier to keep things from falling through the cracks.

For example, if you own a PS4 console, you can set up an adult account followed by a child account, which offers many more options.

To do this on your console, you need to follow these steps:

On your PS4 system, go to Settings > Parental Controls/Family Management > Family Management. You may need to re-enter your account password. Select the child account you want to restrict and select a feature to customize.

Microsoft’s Xbox One is another popular console that includes the same kind of family settings to help manage what your child can do.

To set up a child account on your Xbox One, you need to follow these steps:

• Press the Xbox button on your controller to open the guide. Select Profile & System and log in to your account.
• Press the Xbox button again to open the guide, then select Profile & system > Settings > Account.
• Select Family Settings > Manage Family Members. Select Add to family. Select Add New.
• When the child is prompted to enter an email address, enter the existing email address. If they don’t have one, select Receive a new email.

WHAT ARE THE MOST POPULAR 18+ VIDEO GAMES NOW?

There is a huge list of 18+ rated games that you can download on your devices and they are all rated by PEGI – the Pan-European game information rating system.

And while there are currently thousands of adult-only video games, the ones that need to be tracked and removed tend to be the most popular.

So the games you should remove if they are found on your child’s console or gaming PC are:

• Necromunda: Rented Gun
• Greedfall – Gold Edition
• Days gone by
• Borderlands 3: Director’s Cut
• Doom Eternal and The Ancient Gods DLC
• chivalry 2
• Resident Evil Village
• Hotline Miami Collection
• Red Dead Online
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War
• Call of Duty: Warzone
• Dead in daylight
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Legendary Mass Effect Edition
• Demon Souls
• Mafia: Definitive Edition
• outsiders
• Detroit: Become Human
• Rainbow Six Siege
• Ghost of Tsushima
• man eater
• Death Stranding

Other popular games have lower ratings, including Apex Legends and Valorant, both of which have 16+ ratings across all platforms.

Meanwhile, other games like Fortnite: Battle Royale are rated at 12+, making it more suitable for a wider range of people to play.

And for those parents who want to know why a game falls into a category, you can read the deciding factors below:

PEGI 3: The content of PEGI 3 rated games is considered appropriate for all age groups. The game should not contain sounds or images that may frighten young children. A very mild form of violence (in a comic or childlike setting) is acceptable. No foul language should be heard.

PEGI 16: This rating is applied once the depiction of violence (or sexual activity) reaches a stage that looks similar to what would be expected in real life. The use of foul language in games with a PEGI 16 rating may be more extreme, while the use of tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs may also be present.

PEGI 18: The adult classification is applied when the level of violence reaches a stage where it becomes a depiction of brute force, apparently motiveless killing, or violence against defenseless characters. The glorification of the use of illegal drugs and of simulating gambling and explicit sexual activity should also fall into this age category.